Police retirees lament hardship over delayed pension accrued right
Police retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) supervised by the National Pension Commission (Pencom) are groaning over undue delay in the remittance of their pension accrued rights, which they say has lingered over one year.
This is in addition to their complaint’s that that monthly pensions paid them by the Nigerian’ Police Force Pensions Limited, the police pension fund administrator is abysmally low to take care of them in retirement.
These retirees, under the umbrella body of Association of Retired Police Officers (under the Contributory Pension Scheme) lament their woes and the attendant hardships they are going through with their families.
They note that after 35 years of meritorious services to their fatherland, and having put their lives on the line for the safety of the country and her citizens, they deserve better treatment in their retirement life.
The situation is not only undermining the core objective of the Contributory Pension Scheme but also casting shadow on the image and integrity of Pension Fund Administrators (PFAS) who manages these funds. It is however heavier on the Police PFA, NPF Pensions Limited whose clients are only the police, unlike other PFAS that have a mix of probably 20 percent public service and 80 percent private sector clients.
From their analysis, a Police constable earns between N42, 000 and N47, 000 after deductions of tax, accommodation allowance and others; a Sergeant’s pay is about N50, 000 while a Police Inspector earns about N60, 000 monthly. In the Senior Police Officers (SPO) cadre, an Assistant Superintendent of Police earns a little above 80,000 after deductions have been made.
This they say undermines what they are paid in retirement because
pension is a function of salary, hence the benefit at retirement are also low. At retirement, a Police Inspector earns just about N20, 000, while those in the Superintendent cadre earn about N30, 000.
The recent reversal of the template used to calculate pension payments by the regulator, the National Pension Commission (Pencom) they also lament has further worsened the plight of the retires, with the retiree officers agitating to return back to other PFA’S or exit entirely.
Unfortunately, Pencom was to approve payment to the retirees from the available balances in their Retirement Savings (RSA) account, until the Federal Government pays their accrued rights, PFAS are not allowed to pay them from their contributions that have accrued since they joined the CPS, which they believe is denying them rights to their money.
They are therefore calling on Pencom bring in human face in its regulatory and supervisory activities, as some of the retirees die without enjoying the fruit of their labour on the back of the Commission’s claim of waiting for accrued rights, they lamented.
While waiting for accrued rights, Pencom should allow PFAS to pay retirees from the balance in their RSAS. By the time a retiree is paid for a year and the accrued right comes, then the PFAS can regularize and pay the balance. The question of exhausting the balance in one year as argued by Pencom is not tenable because a retiree cannot exhaust his or her balance. There is always return or interest from investment of the pension fund made on behalf of the retiree by his or her PFA. When the retirees are not paid because their employer, the Federal Government have not paid accrued rights, does Pencom consider that they have responsibilities to their children and other members of their families? Should the retiree die waiting? Does Pencom remember that they were bread winners of their homes before retirement and now you stop them payment for more than one year from earning a living because you have not received their accrued right. How are they going to survive? Even if it is N1 million that they were able to contribute into their account, allow the PFA’S to spread it, so that there will not be sudden cut of income to zero. If an officer was earning a N100, 000.00 it is better he or she earns N10,000 per month as pension than nothing,
It is pertinent to state that from my research, the Pension Reform Act did not state that a PFA should wait and consolidate accrued rights before a retiree can be paid. It is being imposed by Pencom based on administrative convenience on their own part. It means they have to give approval twice and for the Commission, this is additional work.
But President Buhari and PenCom should remember that these people have been armed people all their lives. You have taken away their career, you have taken away the salary, can’t the human mind think of criminality to survive? The President should remember that we have trained them in arms and weapon handling. This is a significant security challenge to the country because a hungry man can do anything to survive. Allowing them to retire without paying them any pension benefit nor placing them on low monthly pension is a disaster waiting to happen.
The officers have every right to agitate for a better deal at retirement and these agitations must be immediately addressed by Pencom. The Inspector-general of Police and NPF Pensions Limited, must rise up to the need to save the nation from the looming outrage of retired police officers and men.
Suffice it to state that NPF Pensions, in collaboration with the Police authorities in its wisdom set up a N500 million Retiree Support Fund in 2017 to cater for the retirees while awaiting their legitimate pension. It was created to support the retirees such that when pension has not been paid due to unpaid accrued rights, NPF Pensions give them some money as a relief pending payment of their pension.
But because pension has not been paid for more than a year, the Retiree Support Fund is being misconstrued by the retirees as their legitimate payment. They want their pension entitlement. They think that perhaps somebody is keeping their money and giving them just hand out. Even police officers do not believe that the CPS is a different scheme. In their mind, these regulators can muddle the old Police pension fund with the CPS and again, mismanaged their pension funds.
While a Memorandum of Understanding reached between key stakeholders in the industry are being expected to approve a special gratuity for the police so that when they retire, the lump sum of their total pension will not be taken from their account and the balance will be channeled as monthly programmed withdrawal, they want the Federal Government to immediately pay accrued rights to relieve the retirees even if it’s not much. President Buhari should give them what is theirs. They should also be paid gratuity and unless this is done, the police will remain cheated and will feel cheated. They will continue to agitate and it might lead to worse consequences because they can mutiny against the people and the government.
Isamail Adekunle, concerned stakeholder contributed from Lagos